The Cyberabad police on Friday said that they cracked a murder case where a ragpicker allegedly killed his partner after calling her for a drink at a graveyard on the outskirts of Hyderabad, close to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Tuesday.
Investigation officials said that 42-year-old Vallepu Srinu smashed the head of 40-year-old Padmamma with a boulder as she fell unconscious after the drink. Her body was found between two graves at the cemetery at Shamshabad near the airport. The police cracked the case on Thursday with the arrest of the accused from Ranga Reddy district.
Police said that they cracked the case thanks to an empty whiskey bottle that was found at the crime scene. The bottle had a bar code and a batch number, which the investigation officials used, to track down where the alcohol was purchased from.
Media reports stated that the police were then able to establish that the bottle was sold at Saptagiri wine shop in Shamshabad. They visited the wine shop and scanned CCTV footage, which showed that Srinu had purchased the bottle on June 6. He was identified with the help of locals as a ragpicker who would frequent a particular 'labour adda' in Shamshabad.
According to police, Srinu, who was in a relationship with Padmamma for the last few years, suspected her of infidelity as she was reportedly seeing another man.
Srinu, a married man with three children, had separated from his wife, while Padmamma had also separated from her husband. The police said that Srinu was enraged over Padmamma becoming friendly with another man and decided to kill her. After committing the crime, Srinu had escaped to his native village in Ranga Reddy district.
The accused was presented in front of a local court and sent to judicial remand.
IANS inputs